In the magnetic recording art, particularly that directed to recording on rotating magnetic discs such as are commonly used in the data processing field, it is well known to utilize assemblies which support the magnetic recording head or transducer on the moving film of air entrained with the moving media. In more recent equipment utilizing what is known as "Winchester" technology, it is well known to utilize a slider to carry the magnetic heads, with this slider being configured to provide the necessary support on the fluid bearing created by the moving media. Numerous configurations of such head/slider assemblies have been developed and utilized, including those illustrated in various United States patents, such as U.S. Pat. No. 3,855,625 to Garnier et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 3,823,416 to Warner. Each of these structures, along with numerous others, have provided for more or less satisfactory operation. However, each of them has suffered from various disadvantages resulting both from their configurations and from their operating characteristics.
In the prior art the slider bodies have each included an extended, planar or flat portion which cooperates with the film of air entrained with the moving media to provide an air bearing supporting the slider and the magnetic head attached thereto some distance above the surface of the media. In these prior art structures these flat fluid bearing surfaces have extended rearwardly and having included as a portion thereof the lowermost surface of the magnetic transducer along with its read/write gap. Since the gap, along with the remainder of the head or transducer, extends rearwardly from the back edge of the slider, the head and gap are placed lower than any portion of the slider when the leading edge of the slider is tilted upwardly as occurs during operation when the head and slider are flying above the media. Since the head and gap are lower than any portion of the slider, any dust, grit or other foreign objects on the surface of the media will tend to strike and possibly damage the head, if it strikes any portion of the head/slider assembly. Additionally, when the head/slider assembly lands, as when the movement of the media is slowed and stopped, the first portion of that assembly which contacts the surface of the media again is the head and its gap, thus tending to cause abrasion and undesirable wear and possible damage to the head and the read/write gap causing degradation of the magnetic recording performance of the head. Heretofore, that has been considered simply a normal disadvantage of the flying head/slider assemblies which are used in the contact start/stop mode. Methods of lubricating disc surfaces do not overcome this physical structure defect.